£250m investment cements future of BMW Mini production in Oxford

German car giant BMW yesterday safeguarded thousands of manufacturing jobs after it revealed it would invest a further £250 million in its three Mini factories in Britain.

The money will be invested in operations by the end of 2015 at the German car maker’s plant in Oxford, steel body pressings operation at Swindon and engine plant at Hams Hall near Birmingham.

Mini production capacity will also be augmented by establishing a contract manufacturing operation in Born in the Netherlands. BMW said it was “in discussions” with Mitsubishi Motors over the endangered Nedcar plant where the Japanese firm revealed it would cease building the Mitsubishi Colt and Outlander at the end of this year.

The announcement was particularly good news for Cowley, where the car factory has been one of the largest industrial employers in Oxfordshire since William Morris launched the UK’s first volume car production line there in 1912.

The company announced further volume growth with up to ten different Mini models, with the potential for additional production capacity at the factory now known as Plant Oxford.

BMW said the extra volume for its growth plans for the Mini and the complexity of new models means that additional production beyond Oxford’s maximum capacity was needed.

Harald Krueger, member of the board of management at BMW Group, said: “Our preferred option is to establish a contract manufacturer as a satellite production as close to our UK operations as possible, at the Nedcar plant in the Netherlands, with whom BMW is in discussions.

“Oxford will provide special Mini production expertise for any new operation, particularly in the areas of dealing with the high complexity and customer individuality which Mini demands and in operating state-of-the-art, multi-model production lines.

“Just as Munich is the centre of the BMW world, Oxford is and will remain the home and the heart of Mini.”

Yesterday’s announcement comes on top of BMW’s pledge a year ago to invest £500m in its factories and means additional job security for the 5,500 UK Mini workers, said BMW.

Krueger added: “Over the last 11 years, Mini has been a unique global success and the BMW Group has even greater plans for the future development of the brand.

Tim Bradshaw, head of enterprise & innovation policy at the CBI, welcomed the news.

He said: “BMW’s decision to invest in its UK plants re-affirms our position as one of Europe’s leading locations for car production, and will have benefits for the wider automotive supply chain.

“Coming hot on the heels of other recent announcements, this new investment shows the UK automotive sector is in good shape.”

Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke said: “This major boost in investment is tribute and reward for the dedicated and hard-working workforce at Oxford, Swindon and Hams Hall.

“The British car industry is once again a ray of sunshine in gloomy times for British manufacturing.

“The government urgently needs to learn the lessons that the UK car industry has to teach and start supporting the wider manufacturing sector.

“The UK has the potential to be a manufacturing success story if we had a government which was prepared to roll its sleeves up and intervene to support employers up and down the UK.”

Prime Minister David Cameron, who is an MP for the nearby Witney constituency, said the investment was “significant”.

He added: “This demonstrates confidence in British manufacturing, provides a fantastic boost for the workforce, and shows we are making real progress in rebalancing the economy.”